This study investigated the moderating effect of perceived task difficulty on the relationship between goal alignment and task performance. Using a sample of 131 participants, the relationship between trait learning goal orientation, assigned goal condition, and task performance was assessed. Results indicated that goal alignment was not significantly related to task performance overall. Perceived task difficulty did significantly moderate this relationship.
Campbell, D.J. ( 1988). Task complexity: A review and analysis. Academy of Management Review, 13, 40-52.
2.
Colquitt, J.A., & Simmering, J. ( 1998). Conscientiousness, goal orientation, and motivation to learn during the learning process: A longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 654-665.
3.
DeShon, R.P., & Gillespie, J.Z. (2005). A motivated action theory account of goal orientation. Journal of Applied Psychology , 90, 1096-1127.
4.
Dweck, C.S. ( 1975). The role of expectations and attributions in the alleviation of learned helplessness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 674-685.
5.
Earley, P.C. ( 1985). Influence of information, choice and task complexity upon goal acceptance, performance, and personal goals. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70, 481-491.
6.
Eison, J.A. ( 1981). A new instrument for assessing students’ orientations towards grades and learning. Psychological Reports, 48, 919-924.
7.
Farr, J.L., Hofmann, D.A., & Ringenbach, K.L. (1993). Goal orientation and action control theory: Implications for industrial and organizational psychology . In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 193-232). New York: John Wiley.
8.
Ford, J.K., Smith, E.M., Weissbein, D.A., Gully, S.M., & Salas, E. ( 1998). Relationships of goal orientation, metacognitive activity, and practice strategies with learning outcomes and transfer. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 218-233.
9.
Harackiewicz, J.M., & Elliott, A.J. ( 1993). Achievement goals and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 904-915.
10.
Heyman, G.D., & Dweck, C.S. ( 1992). Achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: Their relation and their role in adaptive motivation. Motivation and Emotion , 16, 231-247.
11.
Jagacinski, C.M., Madden, J.L., & Reider, M.H. ( 2001). The impact of situational and dispositional achievement goals on performance. Human Performance, 14, 321-337.
12.
Kanfer, R. ( 1990). Motivation and individual differences in learning: An integration of developmental, differential and cognitive perspectives. Learning and Individual Differences, 2, 221-239.
13.
Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P.L. (1989). Motivation and cognitive abilities: An integrative/aptitude-treatment interaction approach to skill acquisition. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 657-690.
14.
Kozlowski, S.W.J., & Bell, B. ( 2006). Disentangling achievement orientation and goal setting: Effects on self-regulatory processes. Journal of Applied Psychology , 91, 900-916.
15.
Latham, G.P., & Locke, A. ( 1991). Self-regulation through goal setting. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 212-247.
16.
Locke, E.A. ( 1968). Toward a theory of task motivation and incentives. Organizational Behavior & Human Performance, 3, 157-189.
17.
Locke, E.A. ( 2000). Motivation, cognition, and action: An analysis of studies of task goals and knowledge. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49, 408-429.
18.
Locke, E.A., & Latham, G.P. ( 1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Mangos, P.M., & Steele-Johnson, D. (2001). The role of subjective task complexity in goal orientation, self-efficacy, and performance relations . Human Performance, 14, 169-186.
21.
Maynard, D.C., & Hakel, M.D. ( 1997). Effects of objective and subjective task complexity on performance. Human Performance, 10, 303-330.
22.
Nicholls, J.G. ( 1975). Causal attributions and other achievement-related cognitions: Effects of task outcome, attainment value, and sex. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 379-389.
23.
Payne, S.C., Youngcourt, S.S., & Beaubien, J.M. (2007). A meta-analytic examination of the goal orientation nomological net. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 128-150.
24.
Seijts, G.H., Latham, G.P., Tasa, K., & Latham, B.W. ( 2004). Goal setting and goal orientation: An integration of two different yet related literatures. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 227-239.
25.
Steele-Johnson, D., Beauregard, R.S., Hoover, P.B., & Schmidt, A.M. ( 2000). Goal orientation and task demand effects on motivation, affect, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 724-738.
26.
Utman, C.H. ( 1997). Performance effects of motivational state: A meta-analysis . Personality and Social Psychology Review, 1, 170-182.
27.
VandeWalle, D. ( 1997). Development and validation of a work domain goal orientation instrument. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 8, 995-1015.
28.
Winters, D., & Latham, P. ( 1996). The effect of learning versus outcome goals on a simple versus a complex task. Group & Organization Management , 21, 236-250.